Clarification from the agency

All U.S. Citizens and Nationals

If selected, you will serve as a Legal Administrative Specialist with the United States Attorney's Office, District of South Carolina. You will join a well-respected team that is responsible for providing a wide variety of technical and litigation support services. Duties will include, but are not limited to:

• Performing a variety of automated support necessary to prepare, organize, index, develop and manage exhibits, evidence and other relevant data;
• Applying basic knowledge of Federal Criminal and Civil procedures;
• Assisting legal support staff in organizing voluminous discovery applications;
• Preparing and organizing exhibits for court proceedings which involves audio/video, transcripts, documents and visual materials, including charts, diagrams, photographs and models;
• Preparing computerized trial presentation programs;
• Providing automated support to present before a jury, grand jury or in other legal proceedings; and
• Assuring documents are organized for efficient automated storage and retrieval by preparing appropriate indices, defining data file search criteria and indexing/coding fields.

Responsibilities will increase and assignments will become more complex as your training and experience progress.

Conditions of employment

• You must be a United States Citizen or National.
• Initial appointment is conditioned upon a satisfactory pre-employment adjudication. This includes fingerprint, credit and tax checks, and drug testing. Continued employment is subject to a favorable adjudication of a background investigation
• You must be registered for Selective Service, if applicable.
• If selected, you may be required to complete a one year probationary period.
• You must meet all qualification requirements upon the closing date of this announcement.

Qualifications

GS-7: To be eligible at the GS-7 level, you must meet at least ONE of the following conditions, as defined below: Specialized Experience, Education, a combination of Education and Experience, OR Superior Academic Achievement.

Specialized Experience: One full year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-5 level in the Federal service or private sector. Specialized experience is defined as experience performing the following types of duties: assisting with the organization of case information; assisting attorneys in preparing for court by preparing exhibits, compiling trial notebooks, compiling witness and exhibit lists; conducting research, analysis and evaluation of data in response to requests; preparing a variety of legal documents; and maintaining a calendar of assigned active cases such as filing, hearing, and/or trial dates.

OR

Education: One (1) full year of progressively higher-level graduate education leading such to a degree in a related field (e.g., Legal Studies, Law, Criminal Justice). Education at the graduate level must be in an accredited college or university and must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to perform the duties of the position.

OR

Combining Education and Experience: Combinations of successfully completed graduate education and experience may be used to meet total qualification requirements.

OR

Superior Academic Achievement: Possess a Bachelor's Degree or expect to complete the requirements for a Bachelor's degree within the next 9 months AND possess at least one of the following criteria: (1) Class standing- in the upper third of the graduating class in the college or university. (2) Grade-point average (G.P.A.) - have a grade-point average of 3.0 or higher out of a possible 4.0 ("B" or better) as recorded on official transcript, or as computed based on 4 years of education, or as computed based on courses completed during the final 2 years of the curriculum; or 3.5 or higher out of a possible 4.0 ("B+" or better) based on the average of the required courses completed in the major field or the required courses in the major field completed during the final 2 years of the curriculum. (3) Election to membership in a national scholastic honor society - Applicants can be considered eligible based on membership in one of the national scholastic honor societies. These honor societies are listed by the Association of College Honor Societies.

Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP)- The ICTAP provides eligible displaced Federal competitive service employees with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies. If your agency has notified you in writing that you are a displaced employee eligible for ICTAP consideration, you may receive selection priority if: 1) this vacancy is within your ICTAP eligibility; 2) you apply under the instructions in the announcement; and 3) you are found well-qualified for this vacancy. To be well-qualified, you must satisfy all qualification requirements for the vacant position and receive a score of 85 or better on established ranking criteria. You must provide proof of eligibility to receive selection priority. Such proof may include a copy of your written notification of ICTAP eligibility or a copy of your separation personnel action form. Additional information about ICTAP eligibility is at: http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/workforce-restructuring/employee-guide-to-career-transition/

Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP)-The CTAP provides eligible surplus and displaced competitive service employees in the Department of Justice with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies. If your Department of Justice component has notified you in writing that you are a surplus or displaced employee eligible for CTAP consideration, you may receive selection priority if: 1) this vacancy is within your CTAP eligibility, 2) you apply under the instructions in this announcement, and 3) you are found well-qualified for this vacancy. To be well qualified, you must satisfy all qualification requirements for the vacant position and receive a score of 85 or better on established ranking criteria. You must provide a copy of your written notification of CTAP eligibility with your application. Additional information about CTAP eligibility is at: http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/workforce-restructuring/employee-guide-to-career-transition/

How you will be evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

Your application will be evaluated and rated under DOJ's Category Rating and Selection Procedures. Your resume and supporting documentation will be used to determine whether you meet the job qualifications listed on this announcement. If you are basically qualified for this job, your resume and supporting documentation will be compared to your responses on the Occupational Questionnaire. If you rate yourself higher than is supported by your application materials, your responses may be adjusted and/or you may be excluded from consideration for this job. If it is determined you meet minimum qualification requirements, your application will then be placed in one of three categories: Best Qualified, Highly Qualified, or Qualified. Within these categories, applicants eligible for Veterans' Preference will receive selection priority over non-veteran preference eligibles. In addition, qualified veterans with a compensable service-connected disability of 10% or more are placed at the top of the highest quality category (i.e., Best Qualified).

You will be rated on the following Competencies (see OPM Website for definitions):
Attention to Detail, Customer Service, Flexibility, Integrity/Honesty, Interpersonal Skills, Learning, Reading Comprehension, Reasoning, Self-Management, Stress Tolerance, and Teamwork

The Occupational Questionnaire will take you approximately 20 minutes to complete.

You must provide a complete Application Package which includes:

- Required: Your responses to the Online Occupational Questionnaire (This is completed automatically during the apply online process).

- Required: Your resume cannot exceed two pages - you will be deemed ineligible and receive no further consideration if your resume exceeds two pages - see USAJOBS for formatting requirements. Include relevant employment history as outlined below for each job:

• Official position title (if Federal, include series/grade),
• Employer name and contact information,
• Start and end dates (for full consideration you must include month, day, and year),
• Indicate full-time or number of hours worked per week if part-time, and
• A list of duties performed and accomplishments.

Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religious; spiritual; community, student, social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.

- Required if you meet qualifications based on education: An unofficial college transcript.(Note: If you are selected for this position, official transcript will be required prior to your first day.) and foreign education evaluation documentation, if applicable, as described under the "Education" section of this vacancy announcement.

-Required, if applicable: CTAP/ICTAP documentation (a copy of a separation notice or other proof of eligibility for priority selection; a copy of an SF-50, Notification of Personnel Action, showing current position, grade, promotion potential, and duty location; AND a copy of your most recent performance appraisal.)

- Required, if applicable: Veterans' Preference documentation. See Required Veterans' Preference Documentation below. Please note, if you are entitled to Veterans' Preference, you must indicate the type of preference you are claiming in your application, check the appropriate box in the assessment questionnaire to indicate your preference, and submit the required documentation as specified below.

Required Veterans' Preference Documentation:
-In order to verify your Veterans' Preference entitlement, you must submit a copy of the Member Copy 4 of your DD-214 (Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty); or if you are a current Active Duty member you must submit a certification on appropriate military branch letterhead that indicates: 1) your service dates, 2) expected discharge or release date from active duty with a release/discharge date no later than 120 days from the closing date of this announcement, and 3) the character of service (e.g., Honorable);In addition, if you are a disabled veteran, a Purple Heart recipient, or widow/widower if a veteran, the spouse of a disabled veteran or the parent of a disabled or deceased veteran, you must submit a Standard Form (SF) 15, "Application for 10-Point Veteran Preference" dated October 2013 and all the required documentation identified on the reverse side of the SF-15 to support your preference claim.

Current or Former Political Appointees: The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) must authorize employment offers made to current or former political appointees. If you are currently, or have been within the last 5 years, a political Schedule A, Schedule C, Non-career SES or Presidential Appointee employee in the Executive Branch, you must disclose this information to the Human Resources Office by providing a copy of your applicable SF-50, along with a statement that provides the following information regarding your most recent political appointment:

• Position title;
• Type of appointment (Schedule A, Schedule C, Non-career SES, or Presidential Appointee);
• Agency; and
• Beginning and ending dates of appointment.

Next steps